The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of the Cactaceae family. The new variety is named Schlumbergera truncata ‘Harmony’. The inventor is Thomas H. Boyle, a citizen of the United States.
Many varieties of Schlumbergera truncata tend to bloom in the winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Because of their blooming time, there is a large market for these varieties during the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons as a decorative plant. In fact, the common name for these plants is Christmas Cactus.
There are many commercially developed varieties of Christmas Cactus. Patented varieties include: (‘Lavender Doll’ (Cobia, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 3,690); ‘Christmas Charm’ (Cobia et al., U.S. Plant Pat. No. 4,196); ‘Rudolph’ (Higaki, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 6,234); ‘Dasher’ (Higaski, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,367); and ‘Rudolph II’ (Martens, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,487).
For many varieties of the species, bud abscission is a problem: a large portion of the initial buds that form on the plant fall off before they reach full maturity. Furthermore, many cultivars possess the further undesirable characteristic that many of the buds that do set on the plant fail to mature and bloom. Preferred cultivars resist bud abscission, as well as produce buds that have a propensity to mature.
The present variety, ‘Harmony’ was developed in Massachusetts, and is a hybrid obtained by cross pollinating flowers of ‘Twilight Tangerine’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 4,200) with pollen collected from flowers of ‘Dark Marie’ (a non-patented variety). ‘Harmony’ is similar to its maternal parent in branching architecture, upright habit, flower size, and flower shape. ‘Twilight Tangerine’ has light orange flowers and ‘Dark Marie’ has scarlet red flowers. ‘Harmony’ differs from both parents in its unique flower color and its tepals which do not reflex fully at maturity, which gives the flowers a wider, more aesthetic look. Phylloclade size for ‘Harmony’ is intermediate between the two parents. ‘Harmony’ exhibited excellent resistance to fungal pathogens in multiple pot plant trials conducted in Massachusetts.
‘Harmony’ resists bud abscission, as well as produces buds that have a propensity to mature. The present variety sets many buds per phylloclade often 2 to 3, many of which reach full maturity and bloom generally 1 to 2.
This present variety is also outstanding for its propensity to grow tall and upright, thus giving it a dense appearance.
The pigmented portions of the flowers of the present variety are quite dark, although portions of the white sepaloid tube are visible when flowers are mature as well as the white basal portions of the blades. The pigmentation in the sepals of the new variety falls in the Red Group, with reference to The Royal Horticultural Society of London's Color Chart.
TABLE 1Comparison Chart of Flower Pigmentation Color‘Camillia’‘Harmony’UnpatentedNew Varietycommercial var.Mature FlowerR.H.S. 46BR.H.S. 74 B (red-purplePigmentationgroup)Color in TepalsBud 1 mm in sizeR.H.S. 74 B (red-purpleR.H.S. 59 C (red-Colorgrp.)purple grp.)Medium Sized2 mm tall ovary is4 mm tall ovary isBud - OvaryR.H.S. 143 C (greenR.H.S. 144 A (yellow-Colorgroup)green group)Medium Sized7 mm tall tepals are6 mm tall tepals areBud - TepalR.H.S. 145 D (yellow-R.H.S. 59 C (red-Colorgreen group) withpurple group)R.H.S. 74 B (red -purple tips)Large Bud -7 mm tall ovary,6 mm tall ovary is 144Ovary Colorportions are R.H.S.A (yellow-green group)145 A (yellow-greengroup), and portionsare R.H.S. 60A (red -purple group)Large Bud -27 mm tall tepals are21 mm tall tepals areTepal ColorR.H.S. 45 B (redR.H.S. 73 A (red-purplegroup)grp.)Color of matureR.H.S. 147 A (yellow-R.H.S. 137 B (greenphyllocladegreen group)group)Angle of tubetube is slightly angled,w/respect toovary upright/sameovaryaxis with respect tophylloclade on which itgrows‘Maria’Unpatented‘Prancer’commercial var.Mature FlowerR.H.S. 74B (red-purpleR.H.S. 45 CPigmentationgroup)Color in TepalsBud 1 mm in sizeR.H.S. 74 B (red-R.H.S. 74 B (red-Colorpurple grp.)purple grp.)Medium Sized5 mm tall ovary is3 mm tall ovary isBud - OvaryR.H.S. 145 A (yellow-R.H.S. 146 CColorgreen group)(yellow-green group)Medium Sized5 mm tall tepals are6 mm tall tepals areBud - TepalR.H.S. 74 D (red-R.H.S. 145 CColorpurple grp.)(yellow-green group)with faintly purpletipsLarge Bud -7 mm tall ovary is 1459 mm tall ovary isOvary ColorA (yellow-green145 B (yellow-greengroup)group)Large Bud -20 mm tall tepals are22 mm tall tepals areTepal ColorR.H.S. 74 B (red-R.H.S. 74 C (red-purple grp.)purple grp.)Color of maturephyllocladeAngle of tubetube is very angled,w/respect toalmost 90 degreesovaryto ovary, ovaryupright/same axis onphyllalce
The pigmented portion of most of the blades of the sepaloid tepals, the tube laminating tepals, and the tube forming tepals is R.H.S. 46B (red group), while in the remaining portions of the tepals, the pigmentation decreases in intensity.
Because the buds of the new variety have a greater propensity to mature, when grown under the proper conditions, at least one bud and often 2 buds per phylloclade will mature and bloom.
The distinguishing characteristics of the new variety are retained by asexually reproduced, successive generations.
In addition, the new variety also possesses the additional commercially desirable characteristics of:                1. a strong propensity to branch with minimal pruning, resulting in a dense appearance;        2. erect stems, resulting in an upright appearance;        
The inventor has asexually reproduced the new variety at a commercial nursery in Half Moon Bay, Calif. through three successive generations by cuttings, and has found that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed remain firmly fixed.